Another Chance
by Rukusho
Summary: Thirty years have past since Saya entered her long sleep. This is a story focused around the first weeks of her awakening and how Saya reconnects with her friends and family, and most importantly, Haji. HajixSaya Hints of KaixMao and DavidxJulia
1. Chapter 1: The Return

**AN: **Well, well...here I am, finally branching out into the Blood+ fandom. This is my first attempt to write for this series, but I'm pretty happy with my characterizations. However, I do apologize if the characters do seem a bit AU, and if the first chapter seems a bit slow. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Blood+ or the characters mentioned in this story, nor am I profiting from them in any way.

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**Another Chance  
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**Chapter 1: The Return**

Sometimes Kai was amazed that he was able to keep the Omoro open for so long. His father, George, made it look so easy when Kai was a teenager. George worked _much_ harder than his laid-back attitude implied. Yet even amongst all the cleaning and late nights, Kai loved the life that he and his family had. Kai kept his promise with Saya, one that he made thirty years earlier; he took his father's place at the Omoro so that, when Saya woke up from her long sleep, she would have a place to return to.

"I probably should start making trips to the family grave," Kai thought to himself as he polished the countertop where customers sat at, "Saya should be waking up soon." He finished wiping down the counter and turned around to clean the stove. A little while later, while Kai was still working on the stove, he heard the main door open. Without even looking over his shoulder to see who was in the door, he automatically responded: "Sorry, we're closed for the afternoon. Come back later tonight."

"Kai," the quiet and familiar male voice echoed through the tiny café.

Clearly shocked, Kai violently turned himself around, wide eyed, gripping the counter for support. There was Haji standing in the doorway, carrying an unconscious Saya, who was draped in Haji's jacket and the same outfit she wore thirty years earlier.

"Haji….Saya…" Kai's voice gradually got louder. "What happened to Saya? Is she all right?" Almost in a panic, he rushed around the bar towards the two.

"Everything's fine. Saya woke up and took in some of my blood," the Chevalier replied calmly, "After that, she fell back asleep. She should wake up in a few hours." Kai sighed in relief, running a hand mindlessly through his messy hair.

"C'mon," Kai started to move towards the stairs, "Saya can rest in her old—"

"Kai," Mao appeared at the top of the stairs, "What's with all the ruckus….Hey! Is that Otonashi?"

"Yeah, it is," Kai nudged his wife out of the way, "Mao, go grab her some clothes to change into? We'll be in her old room." Mao ran off in the other direction to get a set of clothes, while Kai and Haji went in the opposite direction. Almost as soon as Haji set Saya on her futon to rest, Mao kicked both of the men out of the room, stating that "it was improper" for them to be in the room while Saya was having her clothes changed, and shut the door. The only time she willingly opened the door was to return Haji's jacket.

"Mao," Kai started, rather loud, "once you're done, call David and tell him to get everyone over here. Oh, and also call Kaori." He then turned to Haji, "Let's go downstairs to talk."

The two men went downstairs, not speaking. Haji took a seat at the counter, resting his cello case against his chair, and Kai walked around the other side.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Haji just stared at Kai. "Oh….right….the whole Chevalier thing." Kai grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Looking back at Haji, he started to speak again: "You know, we were wondering when we might see you back around the area."

"You knew I was alive?"

"Yeah…" Kai scratched the back of his head, with a sheepish grin plastered on his face, "I would take the girls, uh, Diva and Riku's daughters up to the family grave a few times a year, and one time we saw the rose with your hair ribbon tied around it."

"I see." Haji paused for a while, "I'm sorry for not making it back before Saya entered her sleep."

Kai shrugged, "It's okay. I just wish there was some way that I could have told her. Saya was still upset when we got back to Okinawa. I kept on telling her that you'd show up one day, but she never really believed me. I'm pretty sure she cried herself to sleep for the first few nights that we were back."

"Oh…." Haji said with a hint of sadness.

"But," Kai continued, "all that really matters is that you're back now. Saya will be so happy to see you. I just know it." He threw on another dopey grin on before taking a second to really look at Haji. "I still can't believe it. It's been thirty years, but you and Saya have hardly changed since then. Seeing you two makes me feel like we just defeated Diva yesterday." Kai suddenly noticed that only one of Haji's hands was bandaged, just like when they first met. "Your arm! It grew back normally," he half blurted out, and half asked.

"Yes. I do not know how, but it did." There was a silence between Haji and Kai. "You mentioned the children," Haji inquired, "are they well?"

Kai knew what Haji was getting at, were the girls at all like Diva and Saya? "Well, they're part of Diva and Saya's lineage, that's for sure. The girls stopped ageing around sixteen or seventeen. Luckily, though, they're on good terms with each other. I made sure that they both grew up happy…not like what happened 300 years ago. Neither of them have their own Chevaliers yet, but that may change soon. You'll get to meet them tonight. They're currently staying with Joel learning about Red Shield and Saya, so he'll bring them here."

"Tonight?"

"Mao and David are calling everyone in the area that helped Saya fight against Diva, and telling them to come over tonight. It'll be a celebration! Even Lulu, remember that Sif who became very close to us, will be here!"

"I see," Haji replied stoically.

"We all decided, after Saya fell asleep, that we'd do things different when she woke up. That this time, we'd be straightforward with her about her past and who she was. Of course, that was on the assumption that we wouldn't see you before Saya woke up, so we don't have to worry about that now." Kai laughed a little before continuing, "So how long have you been around the area? I know you mentioned while we were in Paris that you traveled a lot during Saya's sleeping periods."

Haji nodded, "I've been here for a little over a month. I stopped in Okinawa every couple of years to check on Saya."

"And we never managed to cross your path ever? During any of those times? Okinawa is a big place, but not _that_ big," Kai interrupted.

Haji just looked at Kai, thinking that it wasn't that shocking. "I was just in France before I came to Okinawa. I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to visit The Zoo before I came back here. I wanted to get something for Saya." After that Haji stood up from the counter and slung his cello case over his shoulder. He started to head for the stairs, when Kai stopped him.

"Hey Haji." He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to look at Kai. "Listen, I just wanted to, uh, how to say this." Kai started scratching the back of his head again, "I want to apologize for how I acted back when we were fighting Diva. Over those three years I said some horrible things to you, and didn't treat you like family, as Saya and Riku did. Thirty years of hindsight made me realize that I was really just being a stubborn, bullheaded teenager most of the time, and that I was a bit jealous. Back then I didn't know about your….promise…with Saya, and what I did know about you came from Joel's Diary. For that, I'm sorry." Kai paused, brought a sincere smile to his face, and extended his right hand, "I'm really glad you're back. Hopefully we can become good friends." Haji hesitated, and Kai suddenly looked from his own right hand to Haji's. "Oh…right, sorry!" Kai started to retract his hand, when Haji took the bandages from his hand. Before Kai knew it, he and Haji were shaking hands.

"I would greatly enjoy that." If Kai didn't know any better, he thought he saw the trace of a smile form across Haji's face.

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The two men, now on better terms, both kneeled by Saya's bed and watched her rest peacefully. They could hear Mao's faint voice echo down the hall while she continued to call friends and notify them of Saya's awakening. Haji stayed closest to Saya, and Kai sat just right of him. Haji moved his Chiopteran hand so that it hovered over the side of Saya's face, and used his long fingers to gently brushing loose strands of black hair from her shut eyes. 

"Her hair sure has grown," Kai commented in a low whisper.

Haji replied in a soft, reminiscing voice, "It's just about the length that it was while we were growing up in France." Kai looked at Haji, and saw him focusing solely on Saya's face. Suddenly, Haji pulled his hand back from resting over Saya's face, and turned to Kai. "I think that it will be better if Saya sees you first when she regains consciousness."

Mildly confused, Kai turned around as Haji found a spot along the wall to rest against. "What do you mean? Wouldn't it be better for her to see you? She's known you much longer than she's known me." Before Haji could respond, Mao entered the room with David and Julia, their son, and Lulu. Kai greeted the group from the floor, moving into the spot that Haji previously occupied. Haji acknowledged them from the wall behind Kai. A layer of silence covered the room as they all looked towards Saya. Over an hour passed, and the number of people in the room grew, all watching and waiting to see when their dear Chiopteran queen would fully awaken.

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**Next Time: The Reunion - **Saya regains consciousness. How will she react to seeing all her friends, 30 years older? More importantly, how will she react to seeing Haji? 


	2. Chapter 2: The Reunion

**AN: **First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews! I didn't think as many people would like the story as much as they did! As someone kindly point out, the first chapter was a bit rough and lacked fluidity. So, after a nice battle with the sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid, I think I've gotten all the rust off of my creative writing (I'm an engineering major, cant you tell?) so hopefully this chapter will flow a bit better! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and put a lot of time into it. The idea for the ending scene has been in my mind for over a month, so I wanted it to be almost perfect on paper...or as perfect as my skills could make it. So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Oh, and just for reference, the G8 stands for the "Group of Eight" and the summit is where leaders from the 8 major nations: the US, UK, France, Italy, Russia, German, and Japan along with leaders from select world organizations (such as the World Bank and NATO) meet and discuss world issues. In short, its a BIG political event.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Blood+ or the characters used in this story.**  
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Another Chance**

**Chapter 2: The Reunion**

"Nothing about this is right," Saya silently thought to herself. No matter how many times Saya told herself that this, whatever it was, couldn't be possible, she did not deny the fact that she was greatly enjoying it.

Saya was sitting atop the grassy cliff that overlooked most of The Zoo in France. She and Haji both sat in a comfortable silence, waiting for dawn's first rays to gently caress the nighttime sky. Saya did not notice that Haji had placed his human hand over hers until he wrapped his long fingers around her palm and gave it a gentle squeeze. She looked up at him, and saw Haji looking at her with eyes full of concern.

"You're quite. Is there something troubling you?"

Saya shook her head, "It's nothing, I'm just thinking." How could she explain to Haji that something felt odd, without making it sound that he was the cause? As Saya shifted her gaze back towards the brighter horizon, a light morning breeze glided past the two, and caused shivers to run across her body.

"You're cold." Before Saya could protest, Haji slipped his human arm around her shoulders and had her to rest against his side. At first, Saya's body stiffened when Haji pulled her towards his body; but, as she began to feel his heat warm her cooled skin, Saya relaxed and let her head come to rest on Haji's chest.

"Is this better?" Haji's voice was softer, almost a whisper. Eyes closed, and with a faint blush on her cheeks, Saya whispered 'yes'. She lost track of time while her eyes were shut, greatly enjoying the small bit of affection Haji was showing her. But, the moment did not last. A familiar voice echoed around the cliff, startling Saya so that her eyes shot open instantly.

_Hey, hey everyone!_

Saya pulled herself slightly away from Haji, looking around the cliff side for the source of the voice. It sounded like….Lulu?

_Look! __Look! __Saya's__ starting to wake up!!_

Hearing the voice a second time, Saya looked towards the now pale blue sky, realizing that Lulu's voice was coming from above her. Quickly, Saya turned back to look at Haji. She saw a flicker of sadness flash across his usually unreadable eyes. An almost unbearable weight settled over Saya's heart as she realized that she was dreaming. Saya looked towards the ground, not sure of what to do or say. Slowly, she felt Haji place his human hand back over hers, and cup her cheek with his bandaged hand. He tilted her face so that she had to look at him.

"Saya, you need to wake up." Haji's voice was still soft. He looked at her gently with a sad smile.

"No…." Saya felt the weight over her heart begin to climb up her throat, making it hard to speak.

"Saya, you have to wake up." Haji's voice was a little sharper this time, more urgent.

"No," she was almost pleading, "I can't wake up because you'll…you'll disappear." Saya could feel her tears begin to swell.

"Saya, wake up." Saya couldn't stop the tears from forming, and shut her eyes tightly, so that Haji might not see them fall. Her attempt was too late, as she felt a lone tear slide down her cheek. Saya began to re-open her eyes, wanting to look at her dream-version of Haji one last time and say goodbye.

However, her eyes now felt very heavy, almost as if she were groggy. Saya finally willed herself to fully open her eyes, but, instead of seeing her dream Haji, it was Kai. Shock ran through Saya's body, still expecting to be in her dream.

"Hey sleepy-head," he said, chuckling a bit, "Is my old face really _that_ depressing to wake up to?" Saya's eyebrows knit together, expressing her temporary confusion. She timidly raised a hand to touch the side of her eye. Bringing her hand in front of her face, Saya rubbed the tips of her fingers together, feeling moisture between them. She had been crying in her sleep.

Saya looked to Kai again, "Kai?" She paused for a second, surprised by how rough and scratchy her voice sounded, "Where…where am I?" Saya started to sit up, her eyes quickly darting around the room, slightly recognizing many of the smiling faces.

"Hey, hey, easy now, let me help you," Kai straightened the pillow her head had been resting on, and helped her sit up so that she could see everyone around her futon. "You're back in the Omoro, in your old room, Saya. You've been asleep for thirty years."

Finally fragments were starting to connect and make sense in her mind. These people around her futon were her friends and family, just older. Saya realized that she knew almost everyone at her bedside; there was Kai, Lulu (who hadn't aged a day in thirty years), Mao, David, Julia, a man who she didn't know but assumed was David and Julia's son, Lewis, and her good friend Kaori.

"Are you feeling alright, Saya?" It was Julia. Her voice had a more motherly feeling to it, instead of the doctor-like tone that Saya was accustomed to hearing.

"I'm fine," Saya still looked around trying to remember who was missing. "Where's…." What she really wanted to say was, "Where's Haji!?," but she found no reason, already knowing the unwanted answer. "Where are Diva and Riku's children? Where's Mr. Okamura? Or Joel?"

"Well," Mao was the first to respond, "Okamura wanted to be here, but he's currently in Kyoto covering the G8 Summit. He's become quite the journalist over the past 30 years. It turns out that all the digging around we did for information on the Goldsmiths and Cinq Flèches really helped him later in his career."

Cutting in, Kai added, "And the girls are fine, Saya. They've been with Joel for the past few weeks learning about Joel's Diary and the history surrounding you and Diva. All three of them should be here in a little bit."

Saya stayed silent. "Jole's Diary," she thought to herself, her brow starting to show confusion again, "the book that contains my 'history'. That was how I learned about what happened in Vietnam, that I need…." Saya looked hurriedly to Kai.

"What is it?"

"How is it," Saya paused, not sure how to explain her confusion. Sighing, she started again, "Kai, how is it that I can remember you, and everyone else?"

He hesitated, "About that…" Before Kai could explain, Saya interrupted him.

"Did I do something as I was falling asleep? Did I take another," Saya stumbled over her words, not wanting to say them, let alone find out that they were true, "did I take another Chevalier? You and every other person in this room know that I need….Haji's blood to regain my memories after I awake. How can I remember you all, everything we went through, The Zoo, _everything_ even though Haji…even though he's gone?" Saya chocked back a sob, now on the verge of tears. She did not hear Mao's sarcastic comment to Kai about making her cry, nor see all the looks directed towards the wall behind her brother.

"Saya…I don't know how to explain this to you…" Kai started to get up from the bed, pulling Lulu away also. Thinking, Saya began to panic, "What's going on? What do they know that I don't?" Finally, Kai and Lulu stopped moving. Kai motioned for Saya to look behind him and continued, "and even if I could, you'd still probably want to hear it from him."

Saya looked at Kai for a moment, not fully comprehending what he said, and slowly shifted her gaze towards the spot that he was pointing to. "_Him_? He couldn't mean—" Saya's thought abruptly stopped as she felt her heart plummet into her stomach.

"No…" Saya's hands immediately went to cover her mouth to keep any other sounds from escaping.

Haji stood directly in front of her, leaning against the wall with his cello case next to him, looking right at her with a smile fixed on his lips.

"Saya." Haji's voice was filled with happiness. The last walls that were keeping her emotions in check all vanished as she heard him speak. All the pain, love, and sorrow she had locked tightly in her heart suddenly overflowed without restraint. Before her mind fully processed seeing Haji, Saya's body moved of its own accord. Already out of her futon, she was half way to Haji, tears streaming down her face. Saya felt her legs give way, her muscles still weak; but, instead of falling to the floor, Haji caught her, just as he always had. Saya wrapped her arms around Haji, and, with what strength she had, held onto him as if she'd never let go.

Then, crying full-heartedly into his chest, Saya felt Haji reciprocate her embrace. Tighly pulling her to his body, Haji rested his human hand on the small of Saya's back, while his Chiropteran hand found her hair and held her head firmly to his chest. Completely overjoyed and overwhelmed by Haji's presence, and still sobbing, Saya didn't hear Kai talk to Lewis about making a feast for dinner, nor did she notice everyone leave the room a little while later.

After a while, Saya began to calm down. Her sobs became an occasional hiccup, her coughs became mere sniffles, but she still held onto Haji. Likewise, as Saya's crying subsided, Haji relaxed, but continued to rub Saya's back every so often.

"Saya," his voice was soft, just as it was in her dream. Saya looked up at Haji with eyes puffy and red from crying. He was still smiling, even though she had once again shown him her tears. The last time Haji had smiled like this was while he was confessing his love as The Met was falling on top of him. Haji brought his forehead to rest against hers, so that their noses and lips were mere centimeters away from one another, and so that his bangs tickled her cheeks. "I'm home."

Tears threatened to spill from Saya's eyes once again, but she held them back this time. Instead, she leaned up so that their noses touched, and let a bright smile radiate across her lips. "Welcome home, Haji."

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**Next Time: Family Bonds**- Let the feast! Enter the twins, but not before Mao and Saya get to have a little bit of girl talk. 


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